Improvement in fire-arms



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

' W. JENKS.

Breech-Loading Fire-Arm.

Patented May 25, 1838.

2 Sheets-Sheet- 2.

W. JENKS. Breech-Loading Fire-Arm' Patented m 25, 1833 ary size of a rifle or gun.

and should exceed the diameter of a slide,

slides freely within it.

v great exactness UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WVILLIAM JENKS, OF COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA.

IMPROVEMENT IN FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 74?,dated May 25, 1838.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM JENKs, of

Columbia, in the district of Itichland and State of South Carolina, have invented an Improvementin the Manner of Constructing Fire-Arms of Various Kinds; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and em act description thereof.

My improvementconsists in a new mode of constructing such fire-arms as are made to load at the breech, and the accompanying drawings represent it as applied to a ride, common gun, or fire-arms in general, the gen-. eral construction being the same with whatever kind of fire-arms it may be used.

The different figures are drawn of the ordi- Figure 1 is a perspective view of all that part of the piece which it is necessary to represent; Fig. 2, a vertical section through the middle of the same; Fig. 3, a top view of the breech, with the slide removed; Fig. 4,' a cross-section through the slide and barrel, and Fig. 5 a side view of the slide andplug.

In each of these figures like parts are designated by the same letters of reference.

A part of the upper side of the barrel, toward the breech, is removed, as shown at a, Fig. 1, for the length of about two inches and a quart-er, and along the middle. of this an opening is made into the bore of the barrel, and in width equal to about three-fourths of the diameter of said bore. This opening is marked 6. At its forward end, 0, itis opened out circularly, so as to be of the diameter of the bore. The part intowhich it opens constitutes the chamber for receiving the charge the general bore of the barrel about one-sixteenth of an inch. The opening thus made is covered by d (2, upon the lower side of which there is a tongue, e,which fits into the opening,and

A steel plug or sliding cylinder, ff, wliich fits the chamber with and slides within it, is attached by screws to the slide above described, as

in the manner and for the purpose shown in the drawings. The steel plug and the tongue of the slide to which it is attached are about one-half of the length of the opening into the barrel, but the plug or cylinder projects forward about threesixteenths of an inch, andwhen the sl de is pushed forward the plug passes to that distance within the bore beyond the opening. Isometimes reduce the plug about the middle, as atf, to reduce the friction and to form a chamber for oil. Another opening or mortiseis made through the side of the barrel, extending forward from the breeelrpingto one-half the length of the opening in the top. This side opening may be fivesixteenths of an inch in width. Its use is to admit a stop or chock piece, h, to pass in behind the steel plug f when the latter is forced forward. Said stop fills the space between the plug and the breeclrpin, holding the former firmly in its place. A lever, i,wo'rking on a joint at the side of the barrel, and from which the stop or chock projects, hasa spring, at its forward end, to force the stop into its place, and consequently admitting of its being removed by making pressure on that end. WVhen the piece is to be loaded, the stop is removed from behind the plug and the slide withdrawn. The ball is then dropped in at the opening 0, and, by depressing the muzzle of the piece, this rolls forward to the fore 'end of the chamber. The charge of powder is then poured in and the slide forced forward, an operation which can be performed with great rapidity. Either a flint or percussion lock may be used with equal convenience.

' What I claim as of my invention,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination of the slide, plug, and stop, operating and constructed substantially herein set forth.

WM. JENK S. Witnesses:

O. H. WILTBERGER, LTNToN THoRN. 

